VANCOUVER, Wash. – March 25, 2009 – IICRC Standards Chairman Jim Holland announced today the opening of the review process to update and maintain the ANSI/IICRC S500 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Water Damage Restoration.

The standard will open for an informal public review on April 1, 2009 and will be available until June 15, 2009 as part of a continuous maintenance program. The S500 Consensus Body will then update the document based on comments received and then will be submitted for formal public review and comment. A timeline for this maintenance process will be approximately 24 months.

The IICRC S500 Consensus Body, responsible for updating the document, is chaired by Howard Wolf, HW3 Consulting Group, LLC. Wolf previously chaired the Consensus Body during the last revision completed in 2006. The vice chair of the committee is Chris Taylor, Aspire Educational Institute, LLC.

The S500 Consensus Body will create a forum for the ANSI approved document to be commented on through an informal review process that will include users of the document, the industry and any other materially interested parties. This will allow the public and those involved in the water damage restoration field an opportunity to provide input and recommendations to the committee on recommended changes, corrections or additional information that is now available to the industry. The committee will then consider all comments while reviewing the document for necessary updates and formal public review.

“The ANSI/IICRC S500 document has been in the field for 36 months and has proven to be a very reliable source of information regarding water damage restoration. The IICRC is committed to maintaining the S500 as an industry consensus document,” said Holland. “We welcome comments from users of the standard and also those who investigate or are affected by the use of the document.”

IICRC Standards are all living documents. It is intended that the ANSI/IICRC S500 Standard and Reference Guide will be reviewed and updated at least every five years. The water damage restoration field changes rapidly and those involved in the industry should attempt to keep up with the advancement of the science and generally accepted practices of the industry.

According to Holland “This is an opportunity to update a very important document that is used throughout the water damage restoration industry. The IICRC process for writing standards provides for an open, balanced and transparent process and I encourage everyone to get involved, review the document, and submit their comments back to the IICRC S500 Consensus Body.”

The process of maintaining the ANSI/IICRC S500 will be simplified and it is recommended that commenter’s have a copy of the ANSI/IICRC S500. Reviewers have to register and download an Excel form for comments from the IICRC website. To participate in the review process, go to the IICRC website, www.iicrc.org, and look on the home page for the link to register and download the required form.

Comment forms for the informal public review process received by June 15 will be sent to the IICRC S500 Consensus Body for consideration.